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RF Blogger wrote this today:

Last week, I made mention here of Kurosawa and his Seven Samurai. Now I just have to say that this is a film that should be viewed by teams in preseason. Forget about Gladiator and Braveheart - mere pretenders. This one is in the top 5 all-time and has all the action that you won’t find in Citizen Kane and Casablanca. It’s too bad that neither the Raptors, or quite likely you yourself will ever take me up on that recommendation. Yes it’s three-and-a-half hours long. Yes it’s black and white. Yes - subtitles too. But still, beyond the brilliant use of camera movement and deep focus, beyond the insane choreography of the battle scenes, beyond the perfect compositions, there is a story of complexity about men of various talents and backgrounds coming together, making sacrifices, and accomplishing something a higher purpose. The seven characters themselves range from the cagey vet-type, to the superstar-type, the green rookie-type, all the way to the clownish showboat and the coach, who must maintain a balance between all of them, as well as among themselves and the farmers. They all need to somehow work together to beat the odds, and not a frame of it resembles a cliche. Here is a large franchise all working on the same page, all brought to life from somewhere in 16th Century Japan. When there’s nothing else but the WNBA, this makes for a hell of a cathartic substitute to pure ball.

One particular scene surrounding two characters echoes some of what went on with the Raptors last season, and likely every other team in the NBA. You’ve got Kikuchiko, who was the seventh and last Samurai tentatively chosen to help defend a village of farmers: he comes from the ranks of the farmer himself and in his character lies the tension between the two groups. He is somewhat desperate to be seen as a proven Samurai warrior. He carries the biggest sword and his actions are full of bravado. And then there is the master swordsman Kyuzo. When the group discovers that the bandits they hope to bring down one by one, possess three guns, their plans to defend their fortress become a little dicey. It is Kyuzo who quietly walks out into the night, and all on his own disarms one of the sure-shot bandits, returning in the morning with a gun to much praise and adoration which he barely acknowledges. Kikuchiko grows envious, and self-assuredly he heads into the encampment of the bullying marauders himself. He is able to take one of the guns as well, but it is not in his character to do so with the stealth that is necessary, and the bandits answer the sound of alarm and chase him back to the fortified village, where fighting ensues with some tragic results for the unprepared samurai and villagers. Old Kambei, the leader, and by all rights the coach, lays into Kikuchino for acting on his own, reminding him that they all need to work together and not for their own selfish means. And so we see two characters achieving the same thing, but for different reasons and with differing results. It almost works as a way to look at the Jose/TJ scenario doesn’t it? Although Kikuchino, in spite of his mucking things up, is given the chance to eventually prove himself as a true warrior, something which TJ was never going to get here, at least with the bulk of the fans. And TJ did begin with as much of a pedigree as a starter and a star as Jose did, if not moreso, but his need to prove himself arose when he felt his pedigree had been tarnished when Milwaukee chose to disregard it entirely.

Anyway, it looks like the next challenge that might have found some form of expression in Kurosawa’s masterpiece, will be among the three big men with very different natures and abilities. If they can stand strong together the season might bring a few epic battle scenes worthy of Kurosawa’s scripts. By the time the season ends, a planned remake of the Seven Samurai should be released. You’ll want to do what you can to check out the original first.

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RF Blogger wrote this today:

Jermaine O’Neal might not fit the bill for some people who were looking for that 20 ppg scorer on the wings. But he can certainly score that much himself from in close. Of course that will require him returning to an earlier form: over the last couple of seasons he has looked like he has lost something with too many games lost to injury. He didn’t need to be double-teamed all that much anymore, and the offense of the Pacers often suffered considerably when he had the ball in the post. For the most part though, the guy was playing on one leg. So let’s hope he can show that he’s fully recovered from his meniscus injury, and ready to show that he does still need to be doubled down low.

But that’s not where we should be looking to find a rational for why this was the trade that worked best in Colangelo’s mind. We should look at what JO can bring to the defensive end. Even on one leg the guy was leading the league in blocked shots for a good deal of last season. That is the end of the floor where he tried to contribute the most, and he did manage to make an impact there. Again the bad wheel came into play, particularly when guarding guys like Bosh late in games. You could just see him fading near the end of third quarters. Playing on one leg will do that. And not having much help defensively will do that as well.

The Raptors need to make use of his defensive abilities to shore up the gains they made defensively last year, and further their efforts where they were still weak. Early offense off transition was something this team couldn’t stop last season. Once the defense was set they showed they could get stops. But they were too reliant on help and when it came to speedy guards penetrating right away, the help didn’t just react, it over-reacted, and easy baskets ensued. With a guy like JO in there, they ought to have a greater level of trust in their last line of defense. Bosh and JO together should not need the kind of help that we have seen in the past. And together those two should not need to over-extend themselves and be as prone to injuries as they have been of late while all on their own. They could form a solid presence that will bring a lot more hesitancy to opposing guards looking to create early off the dribble, and allow guys like Calderon, Moon and Kapono to confidently contain guys off of penetration and stop the ball as a unit in spite of lacking in defensive prowess as individuals. My greatest fears of the upcoming season was seeing a flurry of blow-bys, and too many comfortable threes coming from the guys wearing the wrong colored jerseys. Now with the last line of defense strengthened considerably, the weaker defenders on the perimeter can do a better job of working together without an eye to helping all the way inside at some point, and thereby over-reacting all too often.

I was watching Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai the other night (now that could make for a hell of a rotation - no?). The wise elder Samurai explained why he left an opening on one side of the fort they had built to protect villagers from marauding thugs by surmising that if they simply defend they will eventually lose, but if they let attackers enter singly before closing off the opening with a rush of spears, then the foes can be worn down one at a time until they are nothing. It worked well enough for Hollywood to turn it into a cowboy tale. And it can work for slow-footed dinosaurs as well. And some of those guys (Kapono certainly comes to mind) might be able to stay on the floor without being a liability, and score somewhere close to twenty points on quite a few occasions themselves.

So as long as they start with an emphasis on defense, and use O’Neal’s abilities to bring everyone else along that much further on that end, and build upon a mindset of scoring off of defense, and winning through strong defensive play, I can’t fault this move or Colangelo’s overall intent. It might even mark a watershed in Colangelo’s career, and with much thanks to Sam Mitchell’s influence, show that he realizes just what it takes to put a team together for bigtime success. And if it doesn’t pan out then it won’t be due to recklessness, and he gets another kick at the can when that big contract expires.

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RF Blogger wrote this today:

OK. So I’m watching game four of the Finals. Actually I’m watching the opening graphics and admiring the beautifully rendered golden lettering, and trying hard to make my brain not pay attention to the grammatical error that it represents (Finals is plural but there is only one single final series which is being referenced). Who needs to speak english properly when you’re looking at the big imprinted stamp of greatness that happens as “the Finals” rolls off the tongue and shines so brilliantly in hi-def? And so I’m allowing myself to be hypnotized in order to feel a sense of expectation.

Still - the league’s image seems tarnished to me. I mean ok it’s wonderful that people are sitting down to watch this renewal of big-time franchises. But I fear that the interest-level only masks what might be deteriorating below the surface.

First of all the league seems oblivious to the need of putting the best product on the court. They wait about a week to get “the Finals” finally started towards true finality, with the Thursday night TV slot given the utmost precedence. Then they get two days off before the next best TV night. And then they get a single off-day to travel through three time zones and be ready for game three! Thanks so much NBA, for allowing me to watch Kobe and Gasol clanking on a dozen freethrows. D’Ya think maybe they had some tired legs? That excuse works pretty good for the Celtics level of play in general. You’ve got the latest American Idol singing the Anthem while looking like he’s already sporting a bad combover, which makes the combover a hip trend rather than just a sad necessity I suppose, but I’m not buying into it, and I can’t stomach the D-League game that followed and have it defined as in any way glamorous, even if it happens right there among the ghosts of Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant. That game was as tired as another Hulk movie, and still with no good way to explain how he keeps his pants from bursting their stitches and shredding just like the shirt. Why not just make the Hulk transform properly into one huge green naked figure, while keeping his private bits teeny and completely inoffensive? It works with the whole backstory - not only did the radiation make him volatile, but it also shrunk his most precious of organs as if it were a tumor. And there you have another opportunity to increase the dude’s incredible rage - the sheer invisibility of his raging hard-ons. But no - the pants somehow stretch out to cover more than Larry Bird’s short shorts ever did. We will have to just look past the stupidity of that. And of course no - the scheduling of “the Finals” will continue to serve TV execs instead of fans of the game.

Then you have to look at how these are just not great teams. Great historic franchises, undoubtedly. But the gap between these teams and the Raptors is not large enough to inspire awe. Maybe that’s a good thing for the prospects of Raptor success. Maybe they can improve from within like the Lakers did, and then add a good Gasol-like piece to take them to the top. And maybe that climb to the top is not so far off with the West clearly falling back some, and the East not really looking overwhelming yet (if the Hawks get the chance to erase only one embarrassing loss and somehow make it a win, Beantown gets burned to the ground after the first round instead of after winning “the Finals”). But I can’t be all that happy about it. At this time of year I want to see at least one team that can claim true greatness. This series doesn’t measure up to almost every Western Conference final series of the past decade. And sure the East-West matchups following all of those stunk, but at least it was due to greatness if only with one team. Is it better that this one has all the buzz, maybe precisely because neither team can claim greatness? This year I’ll say ok, sure, but don’t let it be the start of a pattern.

Then again, can any team arrive at greatness when the style of play really bought into by everyone, is all about mucking things up, packing the paint and letting out-of-rhythm shots fly in bulk? There simply is no place for greatness. I can’t imagine Kareem being able to find enough space to unleash his impossible-to-defend skyhook with the crowds of defenders that gather in the paint now. Shots from the elbow are the new high-percentage alternative to points-in-the-paint. Doc Rivers was lamenting the missed layups that lead to disastrous results in the first quarter last night. It wasn’t the misses that were such an obvious problem. It was the attempts in the first place. Unless they come in transition layups are no longer gimmes, and both of these teams are here at the top, because they can defend in transition, so mostly forget those layups of the gimme variety altogether. They are usually rushed in cramped quarters. Low percentage plays. The Celtics needed to start hitting some of those longer range shots that they were going to be able to get. That’s been the story of the entire playoffs. Look at all the 20-point leads, and the many 20-point swings to even the score. It’s all been about just hitting shots. We all hate it when Sam Mitchell says it, but it’s true. They gotta hit shots. Any team in the league. Then they might be able to find enough room to drive through three defenders with a player like a Kobe or Pierce, and the low percentage plays around the rim might become trips to the line. And sure enough it happens last night - they hit a few shots - and though it doesn’t come about in a great way, it does take place in historic fashion, and the Lakers lost. The Lakers lost! A great coach like the zen-man allowed that to happen. Actually the nature of the game in 2008 allowed that to happen. So how can I really complain?

The Hulk is still wearing pants isn’t he? “The Finals” is still not english. So I will complain in spite of my joy. I just want the kids who were able to stay up all night to witness that comeback and fall in love with the game, to carry an image of the league in their heads that is worth it lasting a few more decades. Can you build on this Mr. Stern and somehow allow for a few great plays to transpire during the greatest of the games that the league can lay claim to? Can you make the idiots at GM feel embarassed for using “the Finals” as a means of trying to sell those mammoths-on-wheels to poor bastards facing 5 bucks-a-gallon? I mean can the games be that good that they deserve at least girls in bikinis rubbing their bodies all over Yukon Denali’s?

We all need to move forward together into a new age. The league needs a new image like GM needs cars that run on carbon dioxide. All the hype on Kobe is not enough. The split screen promo with Magic and Larry, while nice in a nostalgic way, is not enough. Mr. Stern is not going to be able to get these two teams in “the Finals” that many more times, I hope. And if he does then he should at least be honest and have split screens with Jerry West and Kevin McHale fumbling through their script. “Rivalries never die. Only cities where nobody wants to watch a game die. They slowly wither and die.” Or give us the ultimate split screen with Donaghy and Bavetta. “Rivalries never die - thanks to us - and a few mobsters.” You might as well Mr. Stern, because eventually all the ugliness is going to show through.

This article courtesy of •LX•.

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RF Blogger wrote this today:

While Phil Jackson finished up his first NBA season in the spring of 1968, all the kids were getting high while real political conspiracies played out. And in a very short cinematic release, a film called “Head” entered and exited the cultural chaos of the times without leaving much of a mark, just as Phil had not done much to get noticed with his 6 points and 4 rebounds in 15 minutes per game behind Willis Reed and Walt Bellamy. “Head” starred the Monkees, and featured a screenplay written by Jack Nicholson following a weekend with the band in which they consumed something like a a garbage bag full of pot and “brainstormed”. Cut to 40 years later and it is hard not to think that not only Josh Howard, Joakim Noah, and 80 percent of the players get silly with the weed, but that maybe Jack and Phil get together for a few hits off the bong now and again.

You know Nicholson must be getting a buzz on at some point, with those sunglasses always there to counteract dilated pupils. Maybe the two of them get together in the back of Jack’s limo pre-game, reliving the hazy days of the late sixties, and hyperventilating while laughing at comparisons of the present-day Lakers with the original Monkees.

Jack: That kid Vujacic is Davy Jones. I bet he even dances like Davy. You should make him dance Phil. Make it a part of his practice sessions. You’ll see baby - he’s got Davy Jones living right there inside him.

Phil: Yeah yeah. He’s pretty enough with those perfect fuckin’ eyebrows of his. I swear he gets that done on Rodeo. Radmanovic - he has a little of Mike Nesmith in him. I’ll see if I can get him wearing toques.

Jack: Pau is Peter Tork if I ever saw a Peter Tork. He was the one that played his own instruments, but looking at him you’d never know it. Maybe he played too many - the bass, the banjo, keyboards. There was that awkwardness, like what am I noodling around with now? I see that at least once a game with the Spanish kid, like he can’t quite figure out if he’s going to make a power move or a little finesse.

Phil: Whoa - you blow my mind Jack. Whaddya say we make Luke into Mickey Dolenz then.

Jack: I’m a believer coach. I am a believer!

Well, my mind wanders to these kinds of wonderings after nights like that last one with the Lakers wrapping up their series against the Spurs. LA is down bigtime early, and Phil’s got his three big weapons on the bench. And he doesn’t flinch. Now how many coaches can get away with that kind of thing? Doug Collins starts to question it a little bit, but then makes it about how it’s this kind of thing that makes Phil so good. It’s all about trusting his bench. OK - of course. And sure enough it works out! And there’s Barkley at the half proclaiming the zen-master’s genius and his own utter bewilderment.

But wouldn’t a stoner have done the same thing? Could that be the secret? Could that be where the zen comes from? When Phil came on for his interview between the third and fourth quarters, complaining about the Spurs getting to toss an extra free-throw that only could have happened in his imagination, well I had to think that maybe there was something enhancing how he was “seeing the game”.

And if it works it works. Really I can’t see THC being of any benefit to players within any game. But coaches? That might just work. Get Sam Mitchell some hash brownies, or put some in that yellow cake he loves so much.

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RF Blogger wrote this today:

Watching the playoffs so far, I can’t get over the abundance of jumpshots, many of them forced or out-of-rhythm. I have to give some credit to good defense, but I feel that the increased use and refining of zone defenses offers the best explanation. Through long stretches of both current series, the success rate in the paint plummets. Ball-handlers get crowded-out, big men get cramped, and passers lose their passing lanes, all thanks to four defenders, sometimes five, all sticking a toe in the lane and collapsing from there. When teams try to space things out on the perimeter, defenders run out at them all and stop ball movement. Early offense off of transition works to an extent, but all the remaining teams deserve credit for being able to take away that first option in early-offense scenarios, forcing their opponents into half-court sets, which they then can’t get going all too often. And the result has been a lot of attempts at drawing fouls, and jumpshots that are merely last resorts.

Yes there have been some nice displays of guys hitting shots over three, four, or five defenders, and aggressive drives that at least lead to the foul line, as well as some nice accurate entry passes - all providing momentary offensive advantages. But it all seems to come down to which team hits their J’s. I heard Doc tell his team that they were allowing the Pistons to take them “out of their stuff”. But I have to wonder if the kind of timing that Stockton and Malone perfected in running their stuff would have any effect today. Or if the footwork and passing of Hakeem and McHale would be the kind of stuff they could go to nearly as often as they did.

There was about three minutes of last night’s Pistons-Celtics matchup, mostly at the end of the game, where I got the distinct impression that I was watching a basketball game. The rest of the way I saw freethrow after freethrow, and jumpshots aplenty. And if you even go back to the Spurs vs Hornets, you will find that the team that hit their shots won easily in each game. It’s been a pattern throughout the playoffs really. Granted the need to establish aggressive play inside, whether succesful or not, has still been a necessary element. But that doesn’t take away from the feeling that wells up in me - that I’m watching a glorified darts tourney.

It all comes down to who handles the pressure and gets their shooting form working for them. Of course dart tossers don’t need to work to get their shots off (that’s something they might consider working on though - imagine Bowen face-guarding some guy with a sharp object at the ready). But these playoffs have shown that their is too often no amount of work that will allow for a team’s best options to open up. After spending a first quarter of futility in the paint last night, both teams finally went to what was there for them - quick shots off one or no passes. If you hit those shots then eventually a few other things might open up, or if you miss particularly bad shots it might lead to a nice fast break. Mostly the games plod through the ugliness, and if a real basketball play looks to be available, there will be a quick foul, helping get both teams into the penalty early, and adding to the march to the stripe, where the resemblance to darts can’t get any stronger.

You can even start to think of the Boston fans in the same terms as those insane Brits with a Guinness in them, cheering as the in-house announcer yells “RAY-jon RONdo for THREE” in a manner not so different from the guy with the mic who shouts “ONE-undred-an-AYteeee”. And the sound of thuds hitting back-rim inhabit the same deadness as the darts that miss triple-twenty only to land in the one-point piece of the pie. So should they try taking the game clock out of the equation, start each team with 80 points, and count them down to zero to decide a winner? Or should they just reduce some of the crowding issues by going with an international key, widened under the basket? Of course they will do nothing, and if games don’t end up like darts exactly, then they will surely be not much different from gridiron efforts featuring dozens of runs up the middle into the strength of the defense, and short routes that move a team downfield in short segments of nondescript action.

Which wouldn’t necessarily be bad for our Raptors. They are gaining an understanding of these kinds of games, and need maybe only one more player who can be that one good on-the-ball defender while the rest crowd the paint, as well as be that guy who can run it up the middle along with Bosh, and get enough foul calls to take a little pressure of of the guys with the darts. But it does disappoint me that so much of the give-and-take that played out between defenses and offenses in the past, has become less meaningful, if not altogether non-existent. Those Brits might be able to get inexplicably excited all the same, even if there were five Scalabrines with bad teeth thrown out on the court (all the better reason to down another pint). But I do hope for the beauty of the game to return to the forefront. Think of that shot by Ray Allen over Sheed’s outstretched hand, rolling in a perfect arc right into the pocket of air surrounded by the rim. Think of that happening every fourth time down the court,and then think of real ball movement, real footwork, and bodies acting and reacting every other possession. Think of not having to remind yourself that you are watching a basketball game showcasing the pinnacle of achievements.

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RF Blogger wrote this today:

As some of you may know, I used to work for the Raptors, I started in the catering department.

One of the first days on the job, I had to go set up and deliver the food to the dressing room.

I was super nervous pushing my little cart in there after the game. After struggling through the doors, almost dropping the pasta, I hung the immediate left to go set it up in front of the TV.

The first thing I heard was…”About fucking time, can ya hurry that up”, turning around I saw an, angry, sweaty and naked Kevin Willis, I was already feeling pretty small at the time…but the inevitable glance down made me even feel smaller.

Sweaty palms now, I meet the chef in the room and we begin to set everything up. While we are doing that some of the players, couldn’t wait two fucking minutes, and were climbing over me and moving stuff around, taking a plate of food, before it was even ready. The worst offenders…Oakley, Willis and Corliss.

At that point a young Morris Peterson spoke up and said, “Guys can we give the guy a chance here, back up and let him finish”. Let me tell ya I thought Oak, was going to kill him, stared at Mo, and Mo looked right back at him and said “Just let the guy do his job”.

I loved Mo, from that moment on, as I was making my way out of the room, cart full of garbage and stuff…and I was trying to reach for the door, a chafing dish fell and made the biggest noise…as the team were have their “rap up” meeting. There were laughs…and eye rolls, I wanted to die.

As I was trying to gather myself Mo ran over picked up the lid, grabbed the door for me, and shook my hand on the way out.

He simply said “Thank you, we appreciate it”, inside his hand when he shook mine…$100 bones.

I bought his jersey the next day, and as time went on, he was one of the only guys that took the time to learn my name, always said “Hello” when he passed me in the halls.

So for that reason, and more, Morris Peterson will receive a standing ovation from me on Sunday,

Just to say

“Thank you, I appreciated it”

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RF Blogger wrote this today:

Game 65 Preview – Raptors headin’ to Denver.

With 18 games left in the 2007-2008 regular season, the Raptors (34-30) are heading to Denver to face off against Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony’s Nuggets (38-26). However what would normally be a reunion between 2003 draft-mates Anthony and Toronto’s Chris Bosh is derailed, as Bosh has been nursing a knee injury for the past week and is expected to miss a few more games yet. The Raptors have struggled without their franchise player, losing 6 out of the 8 games without him, 5 of those losses coming by double digits.

Defensive struggles

Surprisingly the biggest struggle the Raptors have faced is not on the offense end, where they would be expected to miss Bosh’s 22.6 points per game. The team has managed to maintain a similar offensive output and have scored over 100 points in 6 of the 8 games. Rather the problem has been more defensively. The Raptors are giving up over 108 points per game over the last 8, which juxtaposed with the team’s season average (97 points per game), is startling. While Bosh has proven to be an adequate defender, and while the pace of the team has slightly increased with the return of back-up point guard TJ Ford, there is no excuse for such a letdown over the past few weeks. Furthermore, what has plagued the Raptors over their cold streak is a lack of consistency in particular areas. Against the Charlotte a few weeks ago they were annihilated on the glass, while against the Los Angeles Lakers they rebounded well but let the opposition score 20 3 point shots. Against Indiana they were beat repeatedly on the dribble, while against the Golden State Warriors they fell down 20 early because of turning the ball over. To truly be successful in the NBA you need fundamental consistency game to game, and the Raptors have recently suffered from a lack of it.

Competitive on the West Coast swing, but no rewards yet

Despite these problems, the Raptors have managed to be competitive on the first 2 games of their 5 game West Coast swing, closing to within a couple points late against both Los Angeles and actually taking a small lead against Golden State, only to eventually lose both games. While their competitiveness without Bosh is admirable, the team must learn to spread the ball better in the 4th quarter and utilize all their options. Anthony Parker, the team’s hottest player as of late, had racked up 21 and 22 points through the first 3 quarters of both games, only to be denied a single shot attempt from that point on in either game. Andrea Bargnani, who has been playing well in Bosh’s absence, has also been denied many attempts in the crunch-time of games. On the flipside, TJ Ford respectively attempted 12 and 10 shots in each final quarter. In order to win the game if it is close in the 4th quarter tonight, Parker and Bargnani will need more touches.

In the other corner…

Despite having 4 more wins than the playoff-bound Raptors, because of a large East-West record disparity, the Nuggets are on the outside of the West playoff race looking in. Currently 2 games behind the Golden State Warriors, nearly every game from this point on is must-win for Denver, especially at home against the injured team like the Raptors. For that reason, Toronto should see this game as one where they have nothing to lose, while the pressure lies completley on the opponent. The Nuggets missing the playoffs would be seen as a monumental disaster for the team, who after acquiring Allen Iverson last year and having a very impressive 10-1 month of April to end their season, had aspirations of competing for a title with the star, let alone make the playoffs.

The Nuggets run a very up-tempo offense centered on Iverson and Anthony’s scoring ability, expect the two to carry most of the offensive load. Defensive player of the year Marcus Camby should also present an issue as one of the league’s strongest rebounding centers and shot blockers. It will likely be difficult to stop Iverson and Anthony from scoring their share of points, however if the Raptors can keep the rest of the Nuggets’ talented lineup off the score-sheet, they can put themselves in a position to win the game. Linas’ Kleiza played well against the Raptors in their meetings last year, expect him to be an X-factor of sorts for the game.

Keys to the game…

1. 48 minutes of defensive pressure – A must against a tough team on the road, there is no room for soft pressure with Bosh out of the lineup.

2. Point guards spreading the wealth – Ford and Calderon have been most effective when getting the team involved rather than scoring themselves, to win the Raptors need a collective effort from all the options on the floor.

3. Expose the wing – The Nuggets have defensive issues in the 1, 2, and 3 positions. The Raptors should look to attack these weaknesses and create better shot oppurtunities through penetration.

Here’s hoping for some salami and cheese tonight!

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